Lawrenceville girls bounce back by beating PDS

LAWRENCEVILLE — After suffering its first defeat of the season, Lawrenceville took the field with a renewed sense of purpose.

It took a few minutes to shake the lingering effects of the double-overtime loss to Friends Central, but once the Big Red got some momentum it was back to its winning ways.

Lawrenceville had 10 players crack the scoring column as it rolled past Princeton Day, 19-6 on Thursday afternoon in a local prep battle played on the Big Red’s Fisher Field.

“The Friends game was a tough loss,” said Lawrenceville coach Kris Schulte. “They are a good team and we had some unforced errors. So, the girls were real excited to come out today and show the way we can play. I was really pleased with the number of kids that scored.”

It was a one-goal game for the first five minutes and then the Big Red (5-1) reeled off six straight goals to take an 8-1 lead and then an 8-3 lead into the intermission.

The second half saw the Panthers (4-2) make a slight run before Lawrenceville closed out the game scoring the last seven goals of the game.

“It was so important to come out with strength and bring our confidence back up,” said Lawrenceville senior Jess Castelo, who led the scoring parade with three goals and three assists.

Over their five wins the Big Red as averaged 18.4 goals a game.

Jackie Jones and Jane Kirby each tallied three goals, Claire Crowley, Reilly Fetcher and Chloe Jones all netted two goals. Maddie Jones, Jordi Naidrich, Eliot Schulte and Emily Walther all had one goal for the Big Red.

Crowley and Kirby had a pair of assists with Fletcher, Jackie Jones, Chloe Jones and Naidrich all getting one helper.

PDS was led by Morgan Foster and Alexa Soltesz each with two goals as Hope Anhut and Hannah Bunce caged one goal.

The Panthers got a solid game between the pipes from Sara Dwyer as the junior recorded 13 saves.

“We just have to start stringing more good minutes together,” said PDS coach Jill Thomas. “Lawrenceville is a good team and we are getting more experience every time we play and we are happy about that.”

The Panthers are a young team and they will continue to improve.

The Big Red have a nice mixture of veterans and newcomers, too. Freshman Emily Walther and Reilly Fletcher each played a role in the win over Princeton Day.

But it’s been the senior leadership of Crowley, Castelo, Zoe Ferguson, Jackie Jones, Maddie Jones and Tresa Joseph that has been the catalyst for the early success.

“Our class have been on the team since freshman and sophomore year and now that we are seniors we want this season to go as far as possible,” said Crowley. “We have a lot o heart and this team has a lot of heart. We want to come out every game and dig deep to win.”

The Big Red might’ve dug a hole against Friends, but they showed they have the character and the grit to respond in a winning way.